In an effort to work the refs in the upcoming presidential and vice presidential debates, Rush Limbaugh is painting the moderators as "far left-wing liberal Democrats." MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explained in the latest Rewrite.

Presumptive Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan and others on the right have a complicated relationship with Russian-born writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. And those complications really show when you see Rand talking to Johnny Carson on October 22, 1967. The latest Rewrite took a look at Rand's appearance on The Tonight Show.

You can also click below to watch the entire half-hour interview where the two, with some help from Carson sidekick Ed McMahon, tackle politics, religion, American culture... and even a pesky fly that was buzzing around Johnny Carson's head.

Part 1

Part 2

Ever since Paul Ryan's name started getting mentioned as a possible Republican VP pick, he's been distancing himself from the other woman in his life: Ayn Rand.

He had to drop his beloved then for two reasons. One: he was being considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination. And two: Catholics became highly critical of Ryan's very public entanglement with this woman.

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell weighed in on the bad romance in the Rewrite.

Picking a GOP running mate has not swept Mitt Romney's tax return issue under the rug, at least here at The Last Word.

The Republican ticket indicated they will only each release two years of their tax returns, at most. That goes against years of precedent in presidential politics. But that can happen, only if the presidential debate and vice presidential debate moderators go along with it.

In the Rewrite, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell encouraged viewers to tell the debate moderators you want them to ask Romney-Ryan why they are hiding their tax returns.

How long do you fight a war that cannot be won? Lawrence O'Donnell asked the both moral and political question in the latest Rewrite.

We fought the Vietnam War long past the point when we knew we could not win, and in the process sent 58,193 Americans to die there in a 14-year period. America's so-called War on Drugs to end illegal drug consumption is now 41-years-old. How's that for perspective? 

The war plan was simple: the price of drugs would be driven sky-high as the government seized more and more drugs and made drugs more rare — and therefore, way more expensive. That hasn't been the case in reality. While well-intentioned, it has left countless victims in its wake while only driving the cost of many drugs down.

Eduardo Porter reported last month in the New York Times that, according to Drug Enforcement Administration data, the street price of one gram of pure cocaine is in fact 74 percent cheaper than it was 30 years ago.

So, again, we ask how long do you fight a war that cannot be won?

The Last Word weighed the perennial political question: which is more elitist — windsurfing or dancing horses?

It all started with FOX News conservative Charles Krauthammer, who took swipes at Mitt Romney for committing the political sin of sending his very expensive horse to the London Olympics. But one thing he thinks is still more elitist? John Kerry windsurfing.

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell dissected the folly in that logic in the latest Rewrite.

There's more than just a ray of hope for a better country through government. There's reason to be optimistic America will someday rewrite gun and ammunition laws to bring us one step closer to what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.

Most surprisingly, as Lawrence O'Donnell explained in the latest Rewrite, that hope comes from an unlikely sourse: the biggest conservative on the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia. 

After talking about how "far left loons" want to use the Colorado tragedy to talk about the need for new gun laws, Bill O'Reilly proposed a new gun law. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explains in the Rewrite.

NRA head Wayne LaPierre talks a lot about freedom in his speeches. But what does freedom have to do with the ability to shoot 100 bullets without reloading? MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explained in the latest Rewrite.

Did the founding fathers really want to give criminals the freedom to buy unlimited amounts of ammunition? Were they really protecting your right to buy 6,000 bullets on a whim?

As MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell discussed his latest Rewrite, Wayne LaPierre, America's top gun lobbyist makes it easy to get 6,000 bullets. And he hasn't said a peep about our country’s most recent mass murder.

All we got was a generic press release on Friday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the community. NRA will not have any further comment until all the facts are known," read the statement.

He's the head of the National Rifle Association and he wouldn't even put his name on yet another high-profile NRA press release about a mass murder.

"Even when he deserves 24-hour media attention, Wayne LaPierre is the perfect picture of modesty," said O’Donnell. "Blood-drenched modesty."

And so The Last Word "Off the Cliff" campaign begins, and we need your help. We’re looking design ideas for #OffTheCliff campaign buttons.

Congressional Democrats are going to need courage to do this because it's a bold strategy and boldness isn't exactly their style. (No offense.) So we've decided congressional Democrats should all get buttons made and slap bumper stickers on their cars saying "Off the Cliff" so that when Republicans see the Democratic cars in the House and Senate garages they'll start to think, 'maybe the Democrats are serious this time.'

We know it sounds bat crap crazy to go off the cliff, all Thelma and Louise-style. It sounds totally reckless, it sounds downright Republican to have a legislative strategy that says, 'hey, let's just go off the cliff — neat!' That was the tea party strategy in the House by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. This cliff is different, and it’s the only way to restore sanity and fairness in taxation. 

If Congress and the president do not agree on $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by New Year's Eve then budget cuts amounting to $1.2 trillion will go into effect on January 1, and half of those cuts will be in defense spending – which would trigger an extreme chain of events.

Lawrence broke it down the importance of cheering on the Dems to do the unthinkable in the latest Rewrite.

Tweet @Lawrence, @TheLastWord or @digimuller your pictures, post them to our Facebook wall or do it the old-fashioned way, by emailing us at thelastword@msnbc.com. We look forward to checking out your artwork.

Conservative firebrand Rush Limbaugh is giving out advice to the Romney campaign on how to go after President Obama. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explains why in the Rewrite.